The Value of Relationships, Meetups and Conferences

Imagine all the people you know. Friends, family, classmates, acquaintances, etc.. These are the relationships you have in your life. And new ones are forming everyday. Now think of how you keep track of all those people… Phone book, Facebook, Contact list in your phone, etc. Now, for your business you have: customers, business partners, coworkers, advisers, managers, potential clients, etc etc. How do you keep track of those people? How do you keep track of customers? Do you even keep track of customers? Do you have customers?? If you are making money online then chances are you either directly or indirectly have customers.  Are you keeping track of your customers?

The guys that really are banking big time in Internet Marketing are aware of how important it is to not only keep track of their customers but to keep track of their colleagues, industry friends and even competitors. I have one of the most detailed address books around for personal and business contacts, including my higher quality customers/clients. And I’m always adding to that. Every time I go to a Meetup or Conference I meet at least 1 person that I really want to add to my arsenal of high quality contacts.

Benefits of live Meetups and Conferences

Meetups are extremely important. But, not for the reason that most people think. What’s nice about Meetups over conferences is that it’s generally a smaller group than what you’d encounter at a Conference. There’s usually chance for 1on1 time whereas at a Conference it can be extremely loud and hard to make new connections. You can also learn a lot at Meetups from talking to people and listening to the presentations.

I’m Co-Organizing Meetup202 Boston. If you are in the area I urge you to stop by on May 5th. It’s going to be a great time. It’s being held at the Microsoft Center overlooking Boston and the Charles River (amazing venue!) I may even be giving a short presentation regarding Tracking202.

All in all, Meetups are great. It’s a nice time to meet other people in your area that you may find yourself in a JV with or working on something together. You can also learn a lot from talking to presenters after their presentations, and usually they quality of presentations is pretty high in a big meetup like Meetup202. We are going to have some really nice Case Studies and exclusive material for fellow Boston peeps.

Conferences are very important as well. But in a different way. You can get tons and tons of free stuff by going to these conferences. If not free, highly discounted traffic or deals that you otherwise couldn’t get. I walked away with over $1000 worth of free giveaways and discounts at Affiliate Summit. This is on top of all the money I’ve made so far this year from JVs (which originated from meeting someone at a conference with a similar interest).